Travel || 25 Fontes Levada Walk

Posted on November 10, 2021

When I was first planning my trip to Madeira I absolutely knew that doing 25 Fontes Levada Walk was one of my visiting priorities. Levadas are tiny canals that Madeirans originally built 100s of years ago to get water from one side of the island to the other. Because some parts of Madeira are still scarcely populated, the levadas cut through some absolutely stunning countryside.

The walk that I recommend doing is the Rabaçal 25 Fountains Levada Walk. It takes about 4.6 km, lasting 3 around hours, starts down to the Rabaçal. From here you can continue along the levadas to find the spectacularly tall waterfall (Levada do Risco) and then you continue to the magical 25 fountains lagoon. All the little fonts and fountains fall in the same small (and freezing!) lagoon. Rabaçal is a unique and magical place, like a cross between an enchanted kingdom and the setting of the first Jurassic Park film.

I think my favourite portion of the walk was seeing the Levada do Risco which is about 1000m above sea level.

I am reasonably fit so I found the walk quite accessible, but there are some small parts of scrambling and some steep portions. As the walk is very popular, there are portions of it that were quite crowded. Mostly around the pools and waterfall edges.

I booked on to the walk with a local tour company so that I had a guide the whole time and I am so glad that I did. Not only was the guide a born and bred Madeira, but he was also an ecological expert and I learned so much about the local flora and fauna during the walk. Not to mention loads about the levadas themselves. During the walk, you go through the indigenous forest area of Madeira, which is classified as a World Natural Heritage Site since 1999.

My last tip is to wear proper footwear and bring lots of water!